I have had no sucess with nymphing on small streams,,and only limited success on main rivers,,,i have watched videos and been told in person on technique,but cant seem to get it right.
i usually fish dries on small streams if theres a fish rising at all,but i have tried fishing nymphs when searching out fish,the duo setup and a dry indicator fished upstream but have yet to take a fish this way, would i be better off with a single fly for the smaller stream?,
any tips on improving my chances nymphing would be great,as i am told it can be very productive when done correctly.

cheers guys

There are so many types of nymphing techniques, that i would hasve trouble beginning to tell you. First of all, the dry fly as indicatr, and the nymph or emerger suspended below it, is a good place to start. Technically this is not nymphing, as you are unable to control the depth of the nymph. True nymphing is generally done with two or more flies, and the depth controlled by the weight of the flies, and the technique. With the dry fly and nympth ,method, the nymph is usually quite close to the dry, less than 75 cm, either on the point, or the dropper. This technique is fished exactly the same as you would with a dry fly only. The nymph is completely ignored in the technique, and is incidental. The two nymph, sub surface method (generally referred to as "French nymphing", is done with a little more technical input. It is better fished "accross and down, where the flies are cast diagonally upstream, and allowed to drift past the angler, with the angler at all times retrieving the slack line tpo stay in contact, and the control the depth. Flies are generally weighted.
One thing to remember , is that, as with dry fly fishing, drag free drifts, presentation, etc, as as important. the on;ly difference, is that with nymphing, you are doing it blind, as the flies are submerged, and therefore not visible.
Hope this helps for starters.

There are small streams and there are small streams ,sounds silly but there are wide varietys of waters.
Due to my having been a fan of the Chalk streams for some 35 years now ,my take may not suit your water .
Rod of the size to suit the majority of the beat could be anything fron 6ft or even less up to 9ft (ok some folk go longer) fly line of #5 down to #3 ,reel any thing you like ,I like old things.
leaders a short furled job these days( dibbles from spiderplus ,or others) with a 4-5 ft tippet of 3lbish copoly (I like Stroft,and probably introduced the forum to this some 10 years ago ,following a recomendation by mr Headley aka trout heaven)
fly I like the classic Sawyer pheasant tail and similar
sizes 12 down to as small as you can go .


Use grease on your line , mucilin does it for me and all of you furled leader ,grease it up well ,it means it floats high and and is visable.

With out going near the water ,
head to the bottom of your water, put on your polaroids ,and proceed up stream SLOWLY ,search the water for your target .this looking in the water takes practice ,you will spook fish as you pass them.
More to come later (fri) have a hungry lad too feed !

__________________
Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

I mainly fish a single nymph - usually weighted - on the small river I fish. At this time of year the current is a bit too fast for upstream nymphing and the water is a bit cold for the fish to be really near the surface, so I tend to fish down and across in typical wet fly style. More often than not the fish will dart forward or sideways, grab the nymph and return - all very quickly. Often you will feel nothing on the line to indicate a take and the fish will eject the fly without you even knowing it has been taken

If you see a flash anywhere in the vicinity of where you "think" your fly is, then strike/tighten and you will often find you have hooked a fish . On numerous occasions I have seen the flash but thought my fly was several feet from it - only to feel a 'tug' a second later and find that the fish had already taken and ejected the fly .

As the summer warms up the water (I wish) the fish will come generally nearer the surface and as the flow slackens it is easier to fish upstream and have time to 'figure of eight' (Fo8) retrieve and keep in touch with the fly as it comes back to you. Often you can see a fish change its position to take a nymph - strike when you see the fish reach the fly because if you wait until the leader moves it will often be too late. Unless the fish are feeding right on the surface, taking emerging nymphs, I still use a weighted fly and the "plop" of it hitting the surface often attracts a fish to investigate.
In deep water or where you can't see the fish, often the only visible sign of a take is a slight twitch or a momentary pause in the motion of the leader - you won't feel anything as the fly and line is drifting back towards you. Unless you have kept up with the fly by Fo8 retrieving the line may be too slack to tighten into the fish and you will miss it. You get lots of false bites with a weighted nymph because it can touch on weed or the riverbed but with experience you will learn to leave most of the false bites but to begin with, tighten into every 'abnormal' movement. It's very exciting and great fun - so persevere and you will enjoy it

StickMan

i have tried a single pheasant tail nymph,without an indicator,im sure i missed a couple of takes in the deeper water,as the leader stopped once or twice but i was slow to lift,maybe i have to b more in contact keeep line tighter.
great stuff so far guys thanks,

@ acw ,,i definatly have to improve my stalking/wading as i was in very clear water the other evening,i spooked some good fish,when i thought i was being careful

My favourite nymph that will take trout and grayling all year round is a cross between a pheasant tail nymph and a gold-ribbed hares ear. Tail, wing cases and legs are made of pheasant tail fibres (just like a standard PTN) but the abdomen is pale hares ear ribbed with gold tinsel or wire, the thorax is dark hares ear. You can weight it with wire or lead strip under the body. Sizes 16, 14 and 12 barbless are standard for me - and in a long shank size 10 hook it makes a great mayfly nymph imitation!
Have fun!

StickMan

i havnt tried any of the methods suggested yet as i only had one short trip up the local since,and the river came alive at last,had 4 the biggest about 8 inches,missed as many takes to a size 20 grey duster,,so i was delighted.

met another angler (unusual),he was fishing new zealand style!! a nymph tied 2 foot or so down from a dry indicator,,he said it works a treat,and gave mE an orange spot pheasnt tail to try,,so hope i have some better luck nymphing this weekend,,

thanks for all the input again

I just spent a lovely afternoon fishing "New Zealand style" for the first time ever! I took six wild browns and four grayling, biggest about 13 inches. Two of the fish took the dry fly "indicator" but the rest all took a nymph. I was amazed to find just how much weight a dry fly would support without sinking - even my leaded size 14 Czech nymph didn't pull the size 14 CDC sedge under!
It was interesting to note that nearly all the fish took small size 18 and 16 bead-head nymphs - bigger sizes just wouldn't get touched!

Hard to believe that I fished upstream for nearly six hours and still only took 15 minutes to walk back down the stretch I'd fished!

StickMan

had a good day new zealand style also,,5 fish ,,2 to the elk hair cdc indicator and 3 fish to orange spot pheasant tail nymph,,best was bout half pound to the nymph,,the better fish seemed to take the pheasant tail,,,restored confidence in nymphing for me,,,

Some really good answers in this thread!!

Well, like someone else said " There are small streams -and - there are small streams" How true! Not all the same, in size or shape! So lets look at a really small stream! Mm, I normally fish a dry fly; and will persevere with it even when there is no sign of a fish rising. Sometimes I'll change to a duo? But it's not my favourite kind of fly fishing! But, there is one method on a really small stream that will work! A single nymph - up-stream on a shortish line, the takes are extremely quick; and you need to be focused and concentrate on your line! If it moves - twitches or stops, it could be a fish? lift the rod! The nymphs you need will be : Pheasant tail, Hares Ear and some weighted or bead heads! Also, spider fishing up-stream, or maybe a nymph on the point and a spider on a dropper! Two flies is enough to fish on a really small stream! On lager streams or small rivers I'd fish 1, nymph and 2,spiders, almost always up-stream! Hope this has helped in some way!

Mostyn